This is me at 25 miles.
I was trying to smile for the camera.
This is the best I could do.
Steve Walker, June 7, 2009
I thought the Steamboat Marathon would be a fast race, but I was wrong. I ran it in 4:07:09 and placed 3rd out of 5 M60+. The marathon course starts at the old mining town of Hahn's Peak Village and drops in altitude by 2,100 ft / 640 meter to the finish in front of the Courthouse in Steamboat Springs, CO. The graph of the course elevation printed on the entry form had had a very short horizontal axis and the rolling hills were not visible. The two big hills at 4 mi and 20 mi were visible on the graph but I did not understand how large a roll they would play in my time until I drove the course in my car the day before the marathon. I found that the 2 mile long hill at 4 mi had a steep descent, and the 3 mile long hill at 20 mi would slow me down considerably. I planned on going slow on the steep downhill, running at a heart rate below my anerobic thresehold from 5 to 20 mi to conserve my energy for the hill at 20 mi. I targeted my Boston Marathon qualifying time of 4:00:00 and was right on pace at the hill at 20 mi. This meant I had to maintain my 9:10 min per mi pace up the hill. I could not do that given the steep, long hill so I hoped to climb it at 9:40 pace and descend into Steamboat Springs at 8:40. This was not to be because a stiff head wind hit me when I turned away from the Elk river and started up the hill. I should have built a cushion from 5 to 20 miles in anticipation of the hill. I enjoyed the Steamboat marathon, their organizers, and the locals on the course cheering us on in the rain showers. I would do this race again in a heartbeat. I highly recommend this race for it's spectacular course and organization. Do not expect a PR.
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